Wish
by obeytherandomness
Summary: Naruto wished on a star that his and Sasuke's roles would be reversed. He wished that he would have been the one to leave the village and Sasuke would have been the one to stay. His wish came true, but he wasn't quite expected the outcome that came with it. this is sasunaru.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Naruto

* * *

Naruto lay in the forest just outside of the village holding Sasuke's scratched headband above his head. The darkness of the night made it hard to see the headband before him, but Sasuke would know this headband no matter what. He sighed as he allowed it to fall to his chest so that he could see the sky. The clouds were covering the stars so he could only see darkness before him.

"You know Sasuke," he said quietly. "Sometimes I wonder what would happen if we had switched places. What would happen if I had been the one to go and you had been the one to stay?" He paused as if he was waiting for an answer, but when none came he continued. "It would probably be better for everyone. The Akatsuki wouldn't be attacking us. Orochimaru wouldn't be trying to take your body. You would still be home. Konoha wouldn't be plagued with a demon." He stopped again. It was kind of depressing counting all the things that would have been different. He even had more things that he could name off, but there was no point since he had been the one to stay and Sasuke had been the one to go.

As he watched the sky he saw a hole in the clouds just as a shooting star shot across the sky. He had once overheard that if you wish upon a star than your wish will come true. Naruto closed his eyes and wished as hard as he possibly could. "I wish that I had been the one to leave Konoha and he had been the one to stay."

* * *

This is just the prologue. I promise that the rest of the chapters will be longer than this one.

Thank you for reading. If you have any questions, comments, or requests, please message me and I will make sure to read them all. Flames are accepted and used to improve my stories.

I have the next chapter written, but I didn't want to post everything at once, so I will post it in a week unless I get 5 comments before then.


	2. Chapter 2

"I wish that I had been the one to leave Konoha and he had been the one to stay." Sasuke opened his eyes and looked up into the sky to see that the hole in the clouds had disappeared while he was making his wish. He should have known that his wish wouldn't come true. He didn't even know why he had attempted. It wasn't like him to do such childish things. He just thought that Naruto didn't deserve to be the one who was forced to become a rogue ninja. If Naruto hadn't gotten in the way when Orochimaru was attacking him then he would be the one to be the rogue ninja. That's how it should have been.

Sasuke picked the scarred headband that used to belong to Naruto off of his chest and looked at it once more. He still couldn't see the scratched pattern, but he ran his hand over it anyway so that he could imagine what it looked like. The scratch felt weird. It just didn't go with Sasuke's image of Naruto and he wished that Naruto had never put it there. He wished that the boy had just left the headband behind without putting a scar on it. If he had done that then Sasuke could cling onto the hope that he was just kidnapped, but Naruto would never allow his headband to be scarred unless he was leaving of his own will. He could have imagined that Naruto might still be struggling to get home somewhere out there.

Sasuke sighed and stood up. He had to go back now before somebody thought something happened to him and came looking for him.

* * *

Naruto woke up in the dark room that he had lived in since he left Konoha some time ago. For a moment he felt confused. Why was he here when he should have been just outside of Konoha making a wish on a shooting star? Suddenly, it dawned on him. His wish had come true and now he was the one in the village of sound while Sasuke was the one just outside Konoha. With that realization came a flood of emotions. He had been right. Everything had gone just as he had thought it would when he left. Akatsuki was fighting against Orochimaru, which made Konoha safe, Orochimaru was focusing on taking over Naruto's body instead of Sasuke's, and the village didn't have to be plagued by the demon boy.

"Naruto," said Kabuto as he opened the door. "They're here."

Naruto stood and walked past Kabuto without acknowledging his presence. He knew exactly who 'they' were. Orochimaru had been speaking about a possible battle with the Akatsuki for some time now. Apparently the Akatsuki finally made their move.

Sasuke stood with Kakashi, Sakura, and Sai in the Hokage's office. They had been told that they were getting a mission that was of the utmost importance so they had come as soon as possible.

"We've found Orochimaru and the village of sound," Tsunade sighed.

The only thought that went through Sasuke's head was that Naruto would be with Orochimaru. He hadn't seen the boy since he had disappeared years before, and he was determined to bring him back.

"Your team is the only one not doing anything at the moment," Tsunade continued. "So I want you to go and spy on the village and collect info on it."

"We will do our best," answered Kakashi.

As they were leaving Tsunade spoke again. "Don't be seen," she said. It was clearly a warning for Sasuke, but he ignored her and walked on. If there were any possibility of him getting to Naruto than he would do it against her wishes.

* * *

Naruto had been fighting the easiest of the Akatsuki during the battle for two reasons: he was told not to strain himself because Orochimaru would need him later on and, the only one he really cared about, he needed to save his chakra to kill whoever was left standing at the end of the battle.

The battle had been going on almost all day and now the only people who remained fighting were Madara and Orochimaru. Naruto stayed in the background just waiting for one of them to come on top. He didn't have to wait long as Madara got an opening and cut Orochimaru's head off.

"Good job," Naruto smirked. "I suppose now you think that you can have me. I won't be taken away so easily. If you want me you must first defeat me."

"I don't need to do such a thing," said Madara. "With my eyes I can control the Kyuubi. I don't need to you to get to him."

Naruto continued to smirk as he closed his eyes. He had learned a lot from Orochimaru and Jiraiya, and now he was going to put all his knowledge to the test. "You can only control him if you can look into our eyes. I won't give you that chance."

He heard Madara growl as he began to create the rasengan. Then he put his wind chakra into the jutsu and he began to make a rasengan shuriken. Madara had no chance. He had already been worn down by his battle with Orochimaru and now he had no way of fighting against Naruto at his best. Naruto used the rest of his chakra and then put some of Kyuubi's in with it. The rasengan shuriken that was created during was huge. He could barely hold it away from his body, and he knew it would have some damaging effects on his body. Effects that Kyuubi would be able to heal with a lot of time and rest. Not that it mattered anyway. As soon as he returned to Konoha the elders would kill him for betraying the village. It would be for the best. Three of their demons would be destroyed within the same week. That would be nice for Konoha.

Using only his senses, Naruto charged at Madara with his rasengan held beside him. He interpreted every move that Madara was going to make and continued charging at him until his attack connected. He only caught Madara's arm, but it didn't matter because the rasengan shuriken expanded to encompass his whole body and a lot of the air around them. Naruto watched with satisfaction as each little needle of chakra pierced Madara's body and destroyed him.

"Good job Naruto," Orochimaru said.

Naruto looked at Orochimaru's head, which was a few feet away from the rest of the body and the only thing that he could think was, _"Who knew that Orochimaru's technique could even withstand beheadings." _However he did know that the body that Orochimaru had put himself in was already dead and so he needed a new one. This new one was supposed to be Naruto's. "I see that your vocal cords are still intact," he said as he crouched before the severed head.

"You got what you wanted," said Orochimaru, "now it is only fair that you help me."

Naruto knew that he was referring to helping the man take over his body, but he just smirked as he picked up the head by its hair. "Of course I'll help you." With that he chucked the head into the rasengan shuriken alongside Madara and watched as the millions of chakra needles attacked them both. He then threw the body in with the two just in case some of Orochimaru's soul was still held there as well.

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thank you to all those who reviewed. you're what makes me want to write.

i do have the next chapter written, and i can post it on saturday unless i get 5 reviews before then


	3. Chapter 3

When team seven arrived at the village of sound the only thing they found was what remained after a large battle. Many of the sound ninjas lay dead on the ground along with the remaining Akatsuki members that Konoha had not been able to find recently. Sasuke almost couldn't hold himself back. He had to find Naruto before he died, but Kakashi held him back by saying, "If we rush in there now, we could distract him and then he really would die." Sasuke just shook his head and continued on silently as he kept a sharp eye out for the man that had abandoned Konoha without a trace so many years ago.

When they got to the center of the city and they passed by a particularly large part of rubble they saw a large ball of red and blue chakra that had needles piercing the skin of their two worst enemies. Though Orochimaru only had his head in it. They stood shocked as they watched it attack the two evil men, but they had no clue who had created it.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" came a very familiar voice from behind them.

Sasuke was the first to turn and meet Naruto who had a bright smile adorning his face. "You made that thing?" he asked shocked.

"I only improved upon a jutsu that my father created," answered Naruto.

"That's the rasengan?" asked Kakashi.

Naruto nodded with a proud grin on his face. "I call it the rasengan shuriken. It comes in handy," he said, "as you can see, it is very damaging to my body." He held out his damaged hand for team 7 to inspect. "I can heal it this time, but, if I use that jutsu too much, it will ruin my body." Suddenly the big ball of chakra disappeared and two bodies and a decapitated head fell to the ground. Naruto went over to check their pulse and was pleased to find that they were both dead. "They're dead," he said aloud so that the rest of his old team would know.

"So now what will you do?" Kakashi asked cautiously.

"I'm going to go home," Naruto answered happily.

"You aren't going to run anymore?" asked Sakura.

"I have no reason to anymore," said Naruto. "My reasoning for being here has been carried out, so now I just want to go home and die in peace." Of course he neglected to mention that his original plan had been to destroy Konoha for the way it had been treating him. It's not like they needed to know that and, even if he did tell them, then they would ask him what made him change his mind. He wasn't going to tell him that he wished on a star to switch places with Sasuke and his wish came true. That would just be a really weird conversation.

"What do you mean by 'die in peace?'" asked Kakashi.

"Oh come on Kakashi-sensei," Naruto answered. "You and me both know that the elders are going to choose to kill me when I get back. They aren't going to let the demon go free to rampage their village again."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Sasuke growled.

"It doesn't matter," answered Naruto. "I'm going to die soon anyway." Sasuke tensed at the words. He did not like that Naruto was accepting his death as though there was no choice in the matter.

"Why don't you just keep running?" asked Sasuke. He didn't know why he had said it when he had been the only one that had so adamantly been chasing after Naruto, but he also had never thought that the elders would kill him for his actions. If there was one thing that Sasuke disliked more than Naruto being missing was Naruto being dead. He didn't know why, it's just what he felt.

"We need to bring him in Sasuke," growled Kakashi. He didn't like the idea anymore than Sasuke did now that he was once again seeing Naruto's face, but it was their job to bring in rogue ninjas whenever they could and Naruto was just giving up so easily.

"I'm tired of running Sasuke," Naruto answered. "I don't want to run anymore. I just want to go home and enjoy it for as long as I can." With that Naruto held his hands before him so that Kakashi could tie them together with chakra ropes. Naruto nodded and they all began a slow journey back to Konoha since none of them really wanted to go.

* * *

As soon as team 7 walked through the gates of Konoha with Naruto by their side an ANBU was standing before them with a shuriken in hand ready to strike at Naruto should the need present itself. "I have turned myself in," Naruto said. "Now take me to the hokage so that I can receive my death sentence." The ANBU made no argument and simply took Naruto rather and transported to the hokage's main office.

"This isn't right," said Sasuke. "He defeated two of Konoha's main enemies and then turns himself in and they still think of him as a criminal. He should be treated like a hero right now for sacrificing himself to destroy them."

"Naruto was never anything but a hero," Kakashi said cryptically, "but the village will probably never see that."

"What do you mean Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked, but Kakashi had already continued down the road to enter the village. "Do you know what he means Sasuke?" she asked.

"No," answered Sasuke. With that he left and, Sakura noticed somewhat suspiciously, headed towards the hokage tower.

* * *

"Hey baa-chan," Naruto grinned when they entered the office. Tsunade jumped from her sleeping position on her desk and Naruto couldn't help, but to burst out laughing. "I see you got the gift that I left behind." Tsunade reached her hand up to grab the necklace that sat around her neck. The very same one that she had given Naruto to say that he would be the next hokage.

"What are you doing here brat?" she asked. She was actually surprised that it was so easy to fall into this sort of speech pattern with Naruto even in situations like these.

"I turned myself in," Naruto answered as he showed the woman his bound hands.

"Why?" she asked.

"I did what I set out to do," he answered.

"And what was that?" she asked.

"The Akatsuki and the sound village have been completely annihilated. I even personally killed both the leaders," Naruto answered proudly.

"How?" gasped Tsunade.

"I let them wear each other out and then I used a special technique of mine and killed them both," he said with a smile. "You can even go look. Their dead bodies are all still there. Or you could ask Sakura, Sasuke, and Kakashi-sensei. They saw what happened."

"What do you plan to do now?" asked Tsunade.

"I plan to receive the death penalty," answered Naruto, "and accept the punishment for abandoning the village without any complaints."

"But why?" asked Tsunade.

"Because it will be better for everyone just to get me out of the way," answered Naruto.

Tsunade wanted to tell Naruto that that wasn't true, but just as she was going to the two elder council members burst into the room. "We heard that the jinchuuriki has returned," said the old man.

"What is he doing here?" gasped the old woman. "Are you ANBU stupid? Take him away from the hokage before he tries to kill her." The ANBU bowed and with a puff of smoke they were gone, taking Naruto with them.

"The traitor must be kept away from the hokage while we decide his fate," said the old man. "We do not know what he is capable of."

"Decide his fate?" said the old woman as though she was aghast. "His fate has already been decided. He will receive the death penalty for abandoning this village."

"You can't do that," said the Tsunade.

"Why not?" asked the old woman.

"Because he left the village so that he could protect the village," answered Tsunade.

"It doesn't matter," said the old man.

"A traitor is a traitor and he must be punished with death," said the old woman.

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yay! new chapter. and the next will join it on saturday unless i get 5 comments before then


	4. Chapter 4

Naruto sat quietly in his cage. It was way too depressing in there to even attempt to be hyper. The deep darkness and the equipment that sucked up his chakra so that he couldn't use it was really starting to drain him, but he was still happy that he had been able to see Konoha one last time and that Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi-sensei had been the ones to bring him home in the end.

Suddenly, he heard the big metal door that separated his cell from the outside world open. He couldn't see anything so he didn't know what was going on and the chains that held him in place didn't allow him to make any movements. He didn't make a move to either call out or figure out who was out there. He didn't feel a need to. Whoever was out there was probably just going to beat him up or try to get some sort of information from him. That was all they had been doing since he got locked up. Who spoke to him, though, actually surprised him.

"Naruto?" Sasuke's voice flooded his ears.

"I never expected you to come down and visit me," Naruto answered.

"Why did you do it?" asked Sasuke.

"I was fulfilling a wish," answered Naruto.

"What?" asked Sasuke.

"Have you ever wondered what it would have been like if you had been the one to leave instead of me?" asked Naruto.

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke sounded somewhat taken aback.

"I used to wonder that all the time," Naruto smiled. Now Sasuke didn't know what to say. He couldn't understand anything that Naruto was saying. "Now I know how it would be in both ways. This outcome is much better than the outcome that would come about if you had been the one to leave."

"How do you know?" asked Sasuke.

"I told you," Naruto answered, "I made a wish that I would be the one to leave instead of you, and it came true."

"Wishes don't come true Naruto," Sasuke said.

"Mine did," answered Naruto.

"Why would you wish for this?" asked Sasuke as he motioned around the room even though Naruto obviously couldn't see him.

"It's better for everyone. This way both the akatsuki and the village of sound have been destroyed and the village will be ridded of someone whom they hate."

"The village doesn't hate you," said Sasuke.

"They've been trying to find a reason to kill me ever since I was born. I gave them that reason when I betrayed the village. They're probably up in the hokage's office trying to decide how they are going to kill me right now."

"I won't let them," Sasuke growled before turning to leave the room.

"Don't bother," Naruto spoke to his retreating back. Sasuke ignored him and left the cell through the big metal door.

* * *

"He is a threat to this village," said the old councilman.

"He needs to be killed," said the old councilwoman.

"I refuse to kill him," Tsunade growled back. "He's a hero who destroyed the akatsuki and the sound village. He deserves to be rewarded, not executed."

"He is a traitor," said the old man.

"He does not belong amongst the people," said the old woman.

Suddenly, Sasuke came through the door without knocking. He announced his presence by simply saying, "I won't let you kill him."

"You have no authority here," growled the old man.

"No," Sasuke agreed, "but I will do everything in my power to stop you from killing him even if it means killing you."

"How dare you threaten the members of the council," yelled the old woman. She wouldn't arrest him, however, because the both of them had hopes that Sasuke would become the hokage or at least a very valuable asset.

"How dare you try to kill a hero," Sasuke growled back.

"That boy is not a hero," hissed the old woman. "He is a demon."

"A demon?" Sasuke asked totally confused.

"Oh," said the old man. "Don't pretend you don't know about the Kyuubi that's sealed inside of the boy."

"That is illegal," said Lady Tsunade. "To talk about the Kyuubi in front of anyone of Sasuke's age. You are hereby stripped of your position as council members."

"You can't do that," the council members gasped.

"I can and I am. You're lucky that I don't throw the both of you in jail."

"You cannot do this!" they repeated.

"Escort them out," Tsunade said to her ANBU members and they immediately began to escort the two ex-council members out. "I finally found a reason to get rid of them. They've been getting on my nerves ever since I became hokage."

"What were they talking about?" asked Sasuke.

"I'm afraid that is something that you are going to have to ask Naruto," answered Lady Tsunade. "Go get Naruto out of the prison," she commanded the ANBU as they returned. They bowed and left immediately only to come back with Naruto at their sides.

"Have you finally decided that I will get the death penalty?" Naruto asked. "I have to admit that it took you much longer to decide than I had thought it would."

Tsunade smiled and walked forward so that she could put the blue necklace back on the neck where it belonged.

"Why are you giving me this?" asked Naruto.

"Because you're going to be hokage one day," answered Lady Tsunade.

"I don't understand," said Naruto.

"You just came back from a mission where you were undercover as a rogue ninja and you were tasked with collecting information about Orochimaru and, whenever you got the chance, you were tasked with killing him. It was only a bonus that you were also able to destroy the Akatsuki," said Lady Tsunade.

"Why?" asked Naruto. "Why are you doing this for me when I abandoned the village to join forces with Orochimaru?"

"Because you are this village's hero," answered Lady Tsunade.

"What about the council?" asked Naruto.

"They were removed from their position."

Naruto could barely believe his ears. He had been absolutely certain that he was going to get the death penalty only to be told that he was actually not going to be punished, but he was actually going to be rewarded.

"I have decided to promote you to a jounin," Tsunade continued, "and you are eligible to take the test for ANBU rank at any time. Then, once you've gained the level of ANBU, you can work your way towards becoming Hokage."

"I don't understand," said Naruto.

"You don't have to understand Naruto," said Tsunade. "Just let me do something for you for once in your life without needing anything in return."

"That never happens," said Naruto. "No one ever gives without expecting something in return."

"You do," said Sasuke.

This seemed to confuse Naruto. He didn't know what to say to that. He had always given things without expecting anything in return, but that was because he knew that he would never get anything from anyone. He had always known that he had no choice in the matter. But that wasn't exactly true either. He could have chosen never to give anything to anyone. "I-I can't accept it," Naruto shook his head. He was just so confused at the moment. "I can't accept it. That would be wrong of me. I'm a traitor. I can't accept it. I'm not worthy."

"You deserve this," said Tsunade. "Just like you deserve that necklace around your neck and you deserve the title of Hokage. Naruto please. Just accept this one thing from me I'm begging you."

Naruto wanted to argue some more. He truly didn't think that he deserved any of this after he had deserted the village, but he also wanted all the things that Tsunade was offering him. He never wanted to die. He had always wanted to be Hokage. Tsunade was offering for him to get one step closer to that goal. How could he deny her? He would just have to find a way to pay her back for it sometime later. He could deal with that. "Alright," he said. "Thank you baa-chan."

Tsunade sighed. She was expecting to have to argue with Naruto some more about this, but now that he had given up and had accepted her offer she had other things that she needed to deal with. "Now that that's settled," she said. "We have to find somewhere for you to live. Your apartment was sold as soon as we got all of your things out of it."

"He can stay with me," Sasuke said without thinking. Usually he would never have offered such a thing, but he had a lot of things that he needed to ask Naruto. Not to mention, now that he finally got the man back he didn't want to lose sight of him at any moment for fear that he would just disappear like he had the last time.

Before Naruto could say anything Tsunade said, "Then it's settled. Naruto will be staying with Sasuke at the Uchiha compound until further accommodations can be made. Now off with both of you. I have to write up a mission report for Naruto."

The two of them were shoved out of the room and Tsunade slammed the door in their faces only to return to her desk to actually do paperwork. Normally she would have just waited until later, but because this was about Naruto she knew she would not be able to rest until it was done.

* * *

"Are you sure you'll be okay with this?" asked Naruto as when they got to the Uchiha compound. They had taken an indirect route so that Naruto wouldn't have to be seen by anyone so it had taken a little longer, but Sasuke didn't mind.

"You saved my life," answered Sasuke. "The least I can do is to let you stay at my house."

"I didn't do anything like that," muttered Naruto.

"If you were telling the truth about that wish," said Sasuke, "than you did save my life."

"I thought you were going to be mad at me or think I was lying," said Naruto.

"You've never lied to me before," said Sasuke.

"How do you know?" asked Naruto.

"I watched you," Sasuke answered as he stepped a little closer to Naruto. "I saw you lie to other people and I learned how to read you. I have never once seen you lie to me."

"Why?" asked Naruto. "Why did you watch me?"

Sasuke gave a small smile. Not a smirk, not a snarl. A small upturn of his lips that seemed to brighten up his whole face. "Because I love you," he said.

"You love me?" asked Naruto.

"Yes," said Sasuke as he leaned in closer. He paused for a moment, allowing Naruto to pull away if he wanted, and then dove in for a soft kiss.

Electricity travelled up and down Naruto's spine as he felt Sasuke's lips touch his own. His eyes closed slowly. Never would he have thought that his wish would end up like this. "This has to be a dream," Naruto said when they separated for air.

"Than it is a good dream," Sasuke whispered before they came back together.

* * *

yay new chappie. i'll post the next one on saturday unless i get 5 comments before then


	5. Chapter 5

Naruto was ecstatic when he woke up the next morning, but it soon came crashing down when he realized that Sasuke wasn't there with him. Perhaps it really had been a dream. Perhaps he had come to sleep in this room after he made that wish and didn't remember.

He swung his legs out from under the warm bed and grabbed one of Sasuke's shirts out of the drawer to put on with the boxers that he was already wearing. He always kept the house just as Sasuke left it. Nothing ever moved from its proper place, including the clothes.

Naruto made his way down the stairs slowly. He wanted to find Sasuke, but he also didn't want to find out that it really was true that he had just been having a dream. He was halfway down the stairs when he heard something in the kitchen clanging. Someone was in the house other than himself. He put his guard up and moved to the kitchen.

"You're awake?" asked Sasuke without looking back at him.

Naruto bit his lip. So it really wasn't a dream. Sasuke really loved him. Tears rolled down his face as these two realizations hit him and Sasuke turned to look at him.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Naruto smiled and wiped his tears off with the long sleeves of Sasuke's long sleeve shirt that he was wearing. "I thought it was just a dream," he said. "I thought that I had woken up back in the other timeline. I thought that you were with Orochimaru and this had never happened."

Sasuke stepped up to Naruto and pulled him against his chest as he rubbed circles in his back. "Naruto," he said. "Do you know how I realized that I love you?"

Naruto shook his head.

"I went to your apartment because you were even later to the bridge than Kakashi. Your door had been busted open and many of your things had been scattered across the floor as though there had been a struggle. I searched all over the place for you. I began to think that maybe you had been kidnapped or seriously injured somewhere and dying, but then I saw it. I saw the headband that you had left behind. It had a scratch through the leaf symbol and I knew than that you had left the village. I realized then that I had fallen in love with you long ago."

"The villagers attacked me," Naruto whispered into Sasuke's chest. "I just couldn't take it anymore. I had to get out of there before I went insane. I'm so sorry Sasuke. I didn't know then what it felt like to be abandoned by the people that you love. Now I know and I promise never to do it again."

"I wished every day that I would be able to take your place," Sasuke said as he tilted Naruto's face up and wiped the tears off, "and I still wish that I had taken your place, but right now I like this life so I promise never to leave you either."

"Thank you," Naruto smiled.

"I love you," said Sasuke.

"I love you too."

"Now you have to eat your breakfast," Sasuke said. "Lady Tsunade has called on us to meet her at her office."

"Baa-chan?" Naruto asked. "What does she want?"

"I don't know," Sasuke shrugged. "She just said that we should come as soon as we could."

"Doesn't that mean that we should be going there now?" asked Naruto.

"We can't," answered Sasuke. "We still have to finish our breakfast. We wouldn't want the food to go to waste."

"Alright," Naruto agreed as he sat down to eat the food.

* * *

They took to the rooftops on their way back to the Hokage's office. Naruto was still very cautious of how the villagers would act about his return. He was convinced that the first chance they got they would beat him to a bloody pulp and probably try to kill him while they were at it. Sasuke tried to assure him that he wouldn't let that happen, but Naruto refused to get too close to them anyway.

When they arrived outside of the hokage's tower, they found several ninjas setting up a large stage. The one that was only ever used by the Hokage during special occasions. "I wonder what's going on?" Naruto said.

Sasuke only smiled in reply. He didn't know what was going on either, but he figured that whatever it was probably had something to do with Naruto.

They arrived in the hokage's office to find her bossing around some people who were apparently helping set up whatever was going on. Naruto hid behind Sasuke so that he wouldn't be seen and Sasuke stood as close to the wall as possible with Naruto behind him so that no one would be able to get behind them and scare Naruto. That was the last thing that they needed at the moment.

Tsunade saw them and dismissed the other people in the room with some rude comment about getting out of her site. "You were supposed to be here a while ago," she said.

"What's going on?" Sasuke completely ignored her statement.

"We're celebrating the death of our enemies," Tsunade said proudly.

"Like the Kyuubi festival?" asked Naruto.

"Sort of," said Tsunade. "The only difference is that this festival actually has a good meaning."

"Celebrating the death of anyone, no matter how horrible they are, is never really good," Naruto mumbled just loud enough for the occupants in the room to hear.

"Naruto," Tsunade said sadly. She could say no more. Nothing would convince Naruto to throw out those thoughts and she couldn't blame him for thinking that way. He had been the victim of festivals like that for much too long for him not to think that way.

"Then we shall celebrate a hero," she tried to say.

"A hero?" Naruto asked.

"Yes," Tsunade nodded. "Can you help me with that?"

"Okay," Naruto nodded slowly. He was wary because he knew that to help Tsunade would mean that he would have to show himself to the rest of the village, but he also knew that he couldn't stay in hiding forever. He would need to get out of the house at some point.

"What about you Sasuke?" Tsunade asked.

Sasuke nodded firmly before looking over to Naruto to give him a small comforting smile. Naruto immediately calmed down, if only a bit. Having Sasuke by his side was going to help him through all that was going to happen to him in the next few months. Hopefully all that was going to happen wouldn't be too horrible.

* * *

Unfortunately, I haven't finished the next chapter so I will update it as soon as I finish it.


	6. Chapter 6

"Who do you think the hero is Sasuke?" Naruto asked after they returned to the Uchiha mansion using the road less travelled.

"I don't know Naruto," Sasuke lied with a kind smile. He didn't really like lying to Naruto, but he thought that this one time Naruto deserved to be thanked for his deeds and that wouldn't happen if he figured out what was happening beforehand.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door and Naruto stiffened where he sat on the loveseat in the living room. He still wasn't quite ready to meet the people of his past yet, but he knew that if he kept pushing them off, it would be impossible for him to be able to face them. He needed to start facing everything now and stopped being the coward that he had never been before he made his wish.

Naruto nodded to Sasuke and allowed him to stand from his seat next to Naruto to go and get the door.

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura keened from outside the door. "Are you home?"

"I'm coming," Sasuke sighed and he heard a squeal from the other side of the door and both he and Naruto looked at each other with the same thought running through their mind. _Maybe they should have just left her outside. _But Sasuke had already made Sakura aware that he was home so now he had to answer the door whether he wanted to or not. "What do you want?" Sasuke asked as he opened the door.

"Did you know that there's going to be another festival?" Sakura forced her way into the house without Sasuke's consent and started walking towards the living room. There was a long hallway and another door between her and the living room so she had yet to see Naruto. "Lady Tsunade just announced it. Maybe now that we brought Naruto back, you can go on a date with me."

"What does us bringing Naruto back have to do with me going on a date with you?" Sasuke asked. He made his way between the door to the living room and Sakura. He didn't want Naruto to see the way that Sakura still acted towards him. He knew very well that Naruto would hear it, but at least he could stop Naruto from having to see it.

"Well," Sakura said. "We all know that you have been kind of obsessed with getting Naruto back, but now that your obsession is about to die, you can finally get over him."

"Naruto is not just an obsession," Sasuke said. He would not deny that he had been rather obsessive about bringing Naruto back, but at least he could tell both Naruto and Sakura that the boy meant more to him than that. "And he's not going to die."

"But Sasuke," Sakura whined annoyingly, "He said himself that the councilmen were going to sentence him to death."

"Well he was wrong," Sasuke growled.

"Oh Sasuke," Sakura cooed. Sasuke could tell that she was trying to sound comforting and supportive. It wasn't working. At. All. "You're in denial Sasuke. Let me help you get over that." She pressed past him and opened the door to living room. Sasuke followed her into the room only to find that Naruto wasn't there anymore. "Come on Sasuke," she continued. "Come sit with me on the couch and I can help you get over your obsession."

"I think you need to leave," Sasuke frowned.

"What?" asked Sakura. "Why?

"Just get out Sakura," Sasuke growled.

"But I'm here to comfort you," she tried.

"I don't need your comfort." Sasuke's voice was rising and it was getting dangerously close to a yell. "I said get out!"

"I'm not leaving," Sakura said while crossing her arms to show her refusal. "I came here to make you feel better and that is exactly what I'm going to do. Now come sit with me on the couch and we can talk about this."

"Sakura," Naruto sighed from the hallway that he retreated to when he heard the two of them entering the living room. He would have just left her there and let Sasuke deal with her, but he could tell that Sasuke just wanted her out of the house and that she wasn't going to move. "Sasuke asked you to leave."

"What are you doing here?" she hissed. "You're supposed to be in jail getting ready to be hanged or something."

"I've been cleared of all charges," Naruto said calmly, but Sasuke could see that he was tenser than he used to be when dealing with Sakura's antics. Was it because they were together now or because of something to do with the alternate reality?

"What?" Sakura practically screamed. "You were supposed to be put to death. You were supposed to be out of my way so that I could finally get my Sasuke back from you. You aren't supposed to still be alive and living with Sasuke. Just do what you're supposed to and go die. Leave me and my Sasuke in peace. You've been haunting him ever since you left and now you think that you can just come back and force yourself into Sasuke's life? Well I've got news for you Naruto, you don't. You are a traitor and, I don't care what Lady Tsuande thinks of you, you deserve to die. Just die and leave this village alone. We don't want you here. We want you gone. We want you dead."

"Sakura!" Now Sasuke was yelling because he could see the beginnings of tears forming in Naruto's eyes and he didn't like anything that Sakura was saying to his boyfriend. "Get out!"

"No!" she screamed back. "I'm not leaving you here with this monster. He'll kill you.-"

She would have said more, but she suddenly had a very sharp kunai pressing against her throat and sharingan eyes glaring at her. "Leave," Sasuke said in a deadly calm voice. "Leave now or else."

Sakura did as she was told, but not before a silent promise that she would get Sasuke back from Naruto no matter what she had to do.

Sasuke turned back to Naruto when Sakura was out of sight and had to hold back a deep growl. Naruto was crying silently. It didn't even look like Naruto realized that he was crying, but he was and that angered Sasuke. He would have to deal with Sakura later. Right now his only concern was Naruto. "Hey," he said quietly as he approached Naruto's still form. He pulled Naruto against him and Naruto immediately rested his head in the juncture of Sasuke's neck and shoulder. Sasuke stroked Naruto's hair slowly with one hand and, with the other, he held Naruto protectively against him. "What's wrong?"

"I forgot," Naruto admitted quietly. If he wasn't so close to Sasuke, he probably would have missed the words all together.

"You forgot what?" Sasuke asked.

"I forgot how much the village hated me," Naruto answered. "Before I made that wish, I was finally starting to get the villagers to at least respect me. They all still hated me, but they stopped trying to hurt me. And Sakura," here he paused to suck in an emotional breath, "Sakura was like a sister to me. We got along so well and we promised that we were going to bring you back together."

"I'm sure you'll get that back," Sasuke tried to console him.

"I've betrayed the village," Naruto said. "Nothing I do now will regain their trust."

"Naruto," this one word was the only thing that Sasuke could force past his mouth. He felt anger at the villagers, at Sakura, but he knew that Naruto needed him to be calm right now. He knew that if he said anything more than that simple word, he wouldn't have been able to control his anger. So he kept saying that one word over and over again. "Naruto," he repeated in little more than a whisper.

"Sasuke," Naruto answered just as quietly before his eyes fell closed and he fell into sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

I am so sorry guys. I didn't realize that I had been neglecting this story. This is just a short in-between chapter, but I hope you guys like it all the same.

* * *

This time, when Naruto woke up, he found himself wrapped in the arms of Sasuke. It was warm and he felt safe so he snuggled closer into the man's chest. He heard a laugh and a mumbled, "Good morning to you too," but he didn't look up. He was comfortable.

"You know we're going to have to get up at some point," Sasuke laughed again. He hadn't realized that Naruto was so clingy in the morning, but he couldn't say that he didn't like it. In fact, he rather enjoyed it very much. Besides, he was also rather clingy in the mornings as evident by the fact that he was holding Naruto so close to him and refusing to let go even as he tried to wake him up. "Tsunade-sama said that she wanted us to help with the festival."

"I don't want to go outside," Naruto mumbled tiredly.

"I know," Sasuke frowned, "but you're going to have to do so sooner or later. Sooner is always better than later."

"Why?" Naruto whined.

"Because Tsunade-sama wants our help," Sasuke explained lovingly.

"Why?" Naruto asked again even as he snuggled deeper into Sasuke.

"Because you promised that you were going to help her," Sasuke said. "Now come on. We have to get up and get ready to go."

"Mmmm," Naruto pouted. "Fine." He got up and off of Sasuke and immediately felt cold. He was still wearing the clothes from yesterday and he realized that they were also the same clothes that he had been wearing for a couple of days now. He hadn't even gotten any of his old stuff that Tsunade had told him about, not that he wanted those ugly orange jumpsuits, so he had nothing else to wear. "Sasuke?" Naruto turned to see Sasuke topless.

"Yes?" Sasuke asked.

"Can I borrow some clothes?" Naruto blushed when Sasuke's eyes widened. Apparently he hadn't noticed either. That's not really all that shocking since all of Naruto's clothes looked exactly the same.

"Of course," Sasuke immediately turned to his closet and started digging through it. "I don't know if I have anything that will fit you. We'll have to go and get your stuff today before we go to help Tsunade out. I'm sure she won't mind if we take a little bit of extra time."

"I'm sorry Sasuke," Naruto sighed. "I hadn't even thought about it. These last few days have been amazing."

"I know," Sasuke smiled knowingly as he produced an outfit. It consisted of a pair of black skinny jeans that were worn through at the knees and had holes ripped through them all over the place, and a white wife beater, which Naruto promptly put his own fishnet black shirt over. It was a little loose on Naruto, but otherwise fit him just fine. "Those were my only normal day clothes," Sasuke pointed out. "Seeing as we were barely ever given a day off, I really didn't wear them that often and now they're too small for me. We'll go get the rest of your clothes as soon as we're dressed." Sasuke turned around and put on a black wife beater to go with his own lose black pants.

Naruto looked at himself in the mirror. The outfit didn't look half bad on him, though he did understand why Sasuke didn't wear it when he wasn't given a day off. I mean, even with them being lose on him, the pants were pretty tight. "Thank you Sasuke!" Naruto said as he looked at himself while grinning like a mad man. He would definitely have to dress like this more often.

Sasuke turned and couldn't stop himself from raking his eyes over Naruto's form. Not that he really tried that hard, but nobody needed to know that but him. He agreed with Naruto, Naruto looked amazing in those clothes. The outfit showed off all the right curves. Sasuke didn't choose Naruto because of his looks, but man did he choose one hot boyfriend.

"There's really not that much I want from my apartment," Naruto shrugged once he finally stopped staring at himself in the mirror. "Most of its garbage that they can throw out, but I do have some sentimental things."

"Well then," Sasuke had not stopped staring at Naruto, but he was doing a good job of hiding it by simply staring at the pools of blue that were Naruto's eyes, "we can go see Tsunade, see what she wants us to help out with, and ask her where your stuff is. Since you only have a few things, it should be quick and then we can help."

"I still don't understand why we have to help," Naruto pouted again. "I'd much rather go on a mission." Then he caught himself. "Well, I guess since I'm a traitor, it'll be a while before I get another mission."

"Don't worry," Sasuke smirked and kissed Naruto's forehead. "I think that you'll get another one much sooner than you think. Until then, we can just think of this as a mission."

"It's a pretty boring mission," Naruto grumbled, but followed Sasuke outside anyway.

* * *

The villagers were not expecting to see Naruto walking around the streets. They probably still thought that he was out betraying the village like they always knew that he would. They did not think that Naruto would be walking through the market with Sasuke at his side. And they most definitely did not expect for Sasuke to have his arm wrapped protectively around his waist. Some of them just assumed it were a prank that some idiot thought no one would believe so it was funny. Some were so shocked that they could do nothing but stare with their mouths agape. Others were so angered that they grabbed rotten food to throw at Naruto only to stop themselves when they realized that the food might hit Sasuke and then just chose to glare vehemently at him.

"Did we have to take this way?" Naruto sighed.

"Yes," Sasuke scowled at the villagers, "it's the quickest way and we were already running a little late." But even he had to admit that it probably wasn't a good idea to parade Naruto around the most crowded area of the city so soon after he returned from being a traitor in everyone's eyes.

"But it's so crowded," Naruto whined dramatically.

"You'll get over it," Sasuke said with an amused smirk, but he had to admit that he really didn't think he would. He subtly quickened their pace. If Naruto noticed, he didn't ask, and if he had asked, Sasuke would have just said that it was because they were late.


	8. Chapter 8

"There you are," Tsunade said once they entered her office. "I was wondering when you guys were going to get here." She smiled at them and Sasuke couldn't help but feel that she was tiptoeing around them. It made sense. She didn't know how to act around Naruto after all that he had done for them.

"We want to get Naruto's stuff before we help you out," Sasuke said.

"Well," Tsunade nodded, "that makes sense. But you guys have to be back before noon. Most of the preparations are already done, but I need you here for that part."

"We'll be sure to be here," Sasuke responded.

"I'll have Shizune show you where your stuff is."

* * *

The two of them were lead to a small storage unit near the hokage tower. All of the stuff that Naruto had left behind in his apartment was packed inside the small room. Most of it was broken or damaged beyond repair, but Naruto couldn't really say that he cared that much. He really only wanted one thing from this room and it was sitting right in the front. It was the picture that team seven had taken when they were still new to each other.

"Is that all you want?" Sasuke raised a brow.

"Yes," Naruto nodded. "It's the only thing that I've ever considered valuable. Other than my weapons, that is, but I took all those with me when I left."

"What about clothes?" Sasuke asked.

"I've already grown out of them," Naruto frowned. "They don't fit me anymore."

"I guess that's true," Sasuke sighed. "I guess that we'll have to get you some new outfits then."

"I'm sorry Sasuke," Naruto looked away. "I don't mean to be such a burden."

"Don't worry about it," Sasuke placed a kiss on Naruto's forehead. "I just want to take care of you."

Suddenly a sharp burning burst through Naruto's stomach and he bent over in pain. It felt like the Kyuubi was taking over his body again, but none of the chakra was leaking out. That almost made it worse.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke asked worriedly as he ran his hand over Naruto's back soothingly.

"It's nothing," Naruto moaned. "It's nothing," he said again. It was starting to fade anyway. There was no reason to make Sasuke worry.

"We should take you to see Lady Tsunade," Sasuke said.

"No!" Naruto responded immediately. "I'm fine. Really."

"If you're sure," Sasuke replied. He didn't believe Naruto one bit, but he also didn't want to betray the man's confidence by going to Tsunade against his will. He was just getting him and he was not willing to lose him to this. But, if it got worse, he would go to Lady Tsunade.

* * *

I know this is a seriously short chapter guys, but it is a total in between chapter and I couldn't add anything more to it. Without rambling. I promise the next chapter won't be this short.


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